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Interview with Jimmy Lopez
February 25, 2011
Jimmy Lopez is a composer. For information about his work, visit www.jimmylopez.com.
Tibbetts: How long have you composed, and what made you decide to become a composer?
Lopez: I have been composing since I'm 11 years old, but my catalogue starts around 1999, when I was 20 years old. I've played the piano since I was five, but I had very little exposure to classical music until my early teens. Back in 1991, when I was in high school, I once heard my music teacher play an invention by Bach and I remember being completely mesmerized by it. It was different from anything I had listened to until that moment. Its polyphonic texture and constantly shifting harmonies were so appealing to me that I asked my teacher for a copy of the score. Unfortunately, I didn't know how to read music. My piano teacher had used a method by which I learned the fingerings and reproduced the score by memory. That never bothered me because until then I had no real intention of becoming a musician. But after listening to Bach I gathered a couple of basic music methods and decided to teach myself. It was a slow process, but eventually it paid off. Two years later I was writing my own scores.
Tibbetts: What inspires you?
Lopez: Almost anything can be a source of inspiration. I can be inspired by a strange sound on the street, a striking sculpture in a museum or a hike in the woods. Varem, my concerto for koto and orchestra, was inspired by some specific symbols connected to Hindu philosophy, something in which I was very invested at the time. The initial motif for Fiesta! came to me while I was walking on the streets of Nice, France and I heard a peculiar honk from a truck. Lago de Lágrimas, my concerto for flute and orchestra, was inspired by a Peruvian legend that tells about the origins of the highest mountains of Peru. But in the end, inspiration is usually short lived; the rest is just hard work. Inspiration for me is the initial spark that sets everything in motion, but when that spark is gone I am grateful for all the hard years of training at the conservatory. A composer needs to learn how to exploit his/her material. A masterful example of this is Beethoven's 5th symphony, where the initial four-note motif gives birth to the whole symphony.
Tibbetts: Of all you have done, what do you consider your best work, and why?
Lopez: I tend to feel that my last work is my best work. At 32 I don't think I have reached my creative peak yet, so the best is definitely yet to come. But there are some works that I consider landmarks within my output. Epiphany is such a work, not only because I explored the extremes of the piano as both a percussive and a lyrical instrument, but also because I felt I had finally exhausted a specific technique that I had been utilizing in other previous pieces: juxtaposition. I refer to it as the deliberate attempt to make dissimilar elements clash against each other in order to underline their differences and create an exciting listening experience.
Tibbetts: What is your 'typical day' like?
Lopez: It depends on whether I am composing or not, and on which kind of piece I am writing. When I am really busy with teaching and other responsibilities, I reserve at least a couple of hours every day exclusively for composing. If I have the whole day I keep on writing until I am satisfied with a section or phrase. Whichever is the case, those hours are sacred; I turn off my phone, shut the door and concentrate on my work. It is crucial to keep this discipline even on the days when I'm exhausted. If a deadline is approaching, I make a point of keeping the discipline even while traveling abroad (sometimes I've had to compose in the airplane).
Tibbetts: Do you have any words of wisdom to offer to aspiring composers and musicians?
Lopez: If you choose to be a composer you need to be fully invested in what you do. This is not a road toward instant gratification. It is easy for young composers to get trapped in the desire for recognition. The world is full of composition competitions; they can bring money and recognition but they will not make your music better. I have seen many composers tailoring their work to please a specific jury of a competition and the result is usually disastrous. Whether this results in a win or not, in the end what matters is the quality of the music itself. You will meet many people trying to convince you to do this or that, but if you are at odds with yourself no outer recognition will bring you inner peace. Being a composer--or any creative artist for that matter--can be equated to a constant search for oneself. The more honest you are with yourself the more real and authentic your music will be.
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